The chef

Mara Salles is a chef who is determined, curious, demanding and daring. She loves the kitchen environment where she daily discovers new facets to the Brazilian ingredients. She does not compromise on quality and flavour; she doesn’t sacrifice taste, temperature and texture of the dish for the sake of its visual beauty.

She was one of the first chefs who understood that Brazilian cuisine is based on popular food; it is made on wood stoves, created by hands of our mothers and grandmothers and by the wisdom of the remotest parts of our country. Mara understands that even classic dishes can be improved and she points this out in her ways of preparation without letting them lose
their authenticity and strength.

An insightful chef who travels around Brazil and the world for research, Mara has understood that Brazilians have their own way of preparing and enjoying their food and that this way should be respected. In her opinion, it is certainly important to know the universal techniques and technological advances; however, it is no less important to recognize, name and value our traditional techniques and to create with Brazilian ingredients.

Mara loves to teach people things she has learnt, be it either in courses, schools, lectures or in the restaurant with her cooks
and trainees. In other words, she prefers the hard work, the revelations and discoveries of the kitchen to the easy glamour
of magazine pages and TV screens. Because, a good country girl that she is, Mara loves simple things in life. In fact,
what Mara really loves is Brazil.